Mixed Heritage | Mixed Culture | Mixed Identity | Mixed Parenting

deportation raid

A deportation raid is where the government comes to your house or place of work to arrest you, jail you and possibly deport you, sending you out of the country. In the US they are carried out by agents of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), part of Homeland Security.

In a typical raid, there is a knock at the door at four or five in the morning. They say it is the “police”. You open the door and then comes what some describe as:

“the most horrifying moment of their life. Nowhere to run to, no one to scream to for help.”

The ICE agents come into your home. Your children are crying and screaming. ICE is asking you questions, often in bad Spanish. They arrest whoever they feel like – citizen or not (they will sort it out later). They put you in handcuffs in front of your children